|
According to an inside source, Michael Rosenbaum (Urban Legends) has been
cast in the role of Lex Luthor for the up-coming WB television series,
"Smallville," while John Schneider
(Dukes of Hazard) has been cast in the role of Jonathan Kent.
Shooting starts March 8th in Vancouver, with the towns
of Merritt and Cloverdale specifically used as locations to portray
Smallville.
|
|
Kristin Kreuk
has been chosen to play the role of Lana Lang.
She has starred in the CBC TV show "Edgemont" as
the character Laurel,
and will play the title role in the telemovie "Snow White"
due to air
this May on ABC. Half-Chinese and half-Dutch, the Vancouver-based
actress is 18 years old but will play the 15 year old Lana to Tom
Welling's Clark Kent.
source: Superman Homepage. |
|
The lead
role in the Smallville TV show has been cast.
24 year old Tom Welling, originally from Michigan,
will play the 15 year old Clark Kent in the
show. source: Comics2Film. |
-
A casting call has gone out for the WB pilot SMALLVILLE, which will
chronicle the early adventures of Superman. Actors around age 16 who
resemble Clark Kent and Lana Lang are being sought, as is an actor
around 21 to play Lex Luthor. David Nutter (Dark Angel, Roswell) will
direct the show's hour-long pilot this March.
-
HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - Superman is flying back to
primetime via the WB, which has ordered 13 episodes
of an hourlong adventure-drama about Clark Kent at
age 15.
The show is targeted to premiere during the 2001-02 season. Brian Robbins ("Varsity Blues") is attached to direct the pilot episode.
The so-called "Teenage Clark Kent Project" will follow the adolescent Kent as he comes to grips with his emerging superpowers, exploring every aspect of the "Superman" mythology from its roots.
Familiar characters such as Lex Luthor (originally a pal of Kent's) and Lois Lane (sic) will be included; the show will be set in the present time. The emphasis of the series will be on Kent rather than his alter-Superego.
WB Entertainment president Susanne Daniels declined to discuss financial specifics of the deal, except to say that the license fee the network is shelling out is "in line with 'Angel' and 'Roswell."'
"The pitch was fantastic," Daniels said. "Every character was worked out in depth. They mapped out the story arcs, the specific mysteries... This was one of those pitches you want to work with."
The series will be much more action-focused than "Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman," but will still contain a strong dose of humor. Circumstances such as Kent's first experimentation with X-Ray vision and other powers will also arise.
This won't even be the first time that the youthful adventures of the hero from planet Krypton have been documented on TV.
From 1988 to 1991 Viacom distributed the half-hour syndicated action series "Superboy," which chronicled the man of steel in college. John Haymes Newton played collegiate Superman, until he left in a contract dispute and was replaced by Gerard Christopher. Seventy-eight (sic) episodes of the series were produced.
Dean Cain and Teri Hatcher then starred in ABC's "Lois & Clark," which focused more on humor and romance elements than past "Superman" revivals. It started out strongly in 1993, but later saw its ratings fortunes tumble and was pulled in 1997, even though the series had been given a greenlight for a sixth season.
"Superman" has a long history in TV as both live-action and animated series, going back to 1951's "The Adventures of Superman," starring George Reeves. Until recently, Kids' WB had aired "The New Batman/Superman Adventures" cartoon.
This article is reproduced as originally written in Variety. Contrary to what it states, the show will not feature Lois Lane, but Lana Lang. There were 100 episodes of The Adventures of Superboy, not 78.